So I am blogging to u from my new iPad! My awesome family got me one for my birthday! STILL IN SHOCK OVER THIS ONE GUYS!!!
My birthday is Wednesday but we all celebrated Sunday! I will save more on that topic for Woot Woot Wednesday which is extra special this week! BTW, if you don't know about or participate and want to in Woot Woot Wednesdays, it's not some big ordeal but something I created that's just fun, go
here (or to the header catagories and it's up there) and find out more info! :)
I read a daily devotional from Proverbs 31Ministries that receive via email each day and today's really hit home so I copied it for you to read as well! I love to get these each day and read because they are so personal and realistic application studies ( that's my opinion and word-association lol)! I heard about this devotional from the radio station KLove that I know you've heard about! My radio in the car stays tuned to it and my Selah CD lol!
Just the Right Words
8 Feb 2011
Renee Swope
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 25:11 (NIV)
Has someone ever spoken words that helped you see something valuable or unique about yourself that you had never seen before?
That's what happened between Jill and Leanne. They met when Jill was coaching a basketball team and Leanne’s 13-year-old daughter, Shelby, was on her team. Years later, when she was in high school, Shelby got seriously injured and Jill reached out to her with encouragement, prayers and notes that spoke just the words Shelby needed to hear.
One day, Leanne sent a letter thanking Jill for the difference she was making in her daughter’s life. She described the great qualities she saw in Jill and called her a "bright light" that shined in many lives, including theirs.
Leanne didn’t know that months later Jill would go home to an empty apartment one night plagued with doubts, questioning her purpose in life. Battling clinical depression and living under the weight of feeling worthless, Jill contemplated suicide. That night as she pondered her fate, Jill opened her journal to write and a note fell out. As Jill opened the note, she read Leanne's words again.
God used Leanne’s words to show Jill she did have a purpose and that life was worth living. Just the right words at just the right time.
(* this is the part I LOVE MOST) When another woman speaks encouragement into our hearts, the course of our lives can be changed forever. And when we believe in someone else, God uses us to build confidence and security in a heart that may have otherwise been paralyzed by doubt and insecurity.
I’ll never forget my friend Janet thanking me for words I'd penned from my heart to hers in a thank you card. To me it was only a thank you, but it was more to her. God touched her heart deeply through something I said. And in response, she encouraged me to write more than notes. Her prayers and confidence inspired this insecure young mom to eventually write a Bible study.
God used that tiny Bible study, written over 10 years ago, to uncover His plans and develop the future writer in me. He used a woman who believed in me more than I believed in myself to help me take the first step.
Just the right words at just the right time.
Perhaps you need to hear them today. If so, let God speak them over you through His promises:
For you are a chosen [woman], you are a royal priest, a holy [daughter]. God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine....you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you." Isaiah 43:1, 4 (NIV)
For [you] are God's masterpiece. He has created [you] anew in Christ Jesus, so [you] can do the good things he planned for [you] long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
In all these things [you] are more than [a] conqueror through him who loved [you]. Romans 8:37 (NIV)
Just the right words at just the right time.
Let God's promises settle into those places in your heart that need for encouragement today. And then ask Jesus how you might share them. Perhaps there is someone in your life who needs them now more than ever.
Dear Lord, I need Your encouragement each day. Lead me to promises in Your Word that will strengthen me when I'm weary and build me up when I feel torn down. Help me see and believe what You see in me, and then share it with others. I pray You will give me just the right words at just the right time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Application:
Make a list of five people in your life who could use your words of encouragement.
Take five minutes each day this week to encourage one of them:
Write a note of encouragement via email or in a card.
Leave a voicemail with a short prayer and let them hear you thanking God for something special about them.
Post a comment on their Facebook page telling them how much you appreciate them and why.
Reflections:
Do I realize the power of my words to speak hope and encouragement into the lives of others, as well as into my own life?
How often to I fill my mind with God's words of encouragement so that I know His thoughts to share with others?
Power Verses:
Isaiah 50:4, “The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
WASN'T THAT JUST AMAZING!??? I know my problem is my tongue. It's quick to be used before I truly think how it could and will affect someone. I am a very emotional person and so I speak out of emotions, which can be a good thing but most the time leaves me with regret...so, here's my word of encouraging emotion today:
Give someone you know needs encouragement today. You never know the difference your kindness will make!
Here's my lil "encourager"
